Unpacking the Impact of 3 Viral Collaborations

In response to the collaboration frenzy that is today’s zeitgeist, Jing Daily's Collabs and Drops newsletter is a 360-degree perspective on the must-know highlights from China and around the world. It combines global consumer insight and expert opinion by delving into the cultural conversations surrounding creative partnerships. In partnership with Lyst — a global shopping platform used by 150 million shoppers a year — and the social media intelligence platform Digimind, Collabs and Drops evaluates reactions to the most novel and trending collaborations and dives deep into innovative campaigns, both in China and globally. The most notable collaborations from the past 30 days were socially driven by celebrity fanbases, thrusting Justin Bieber x Balenciaga and Kanye West’s Yeezy x Gap into the global social media spotlight. The latter merged the release for West’s upcoming album, Donda, and the third edition of the singer's personally advertised Yeezy x Gap round jacket (this time in red) via his viral album listening parties, releasing it for pre-order shortly afterward on August 6. Back in June, the first round of jackets (in blue) made 7 million in sales overnight, even though the jackets aren't expected to ship until November 30. Another viral creative partnership during the month was Telfar x Liberia, designed for the West African country’s Olympic team and launched later on Telfar’s D2C site on August 9, marking the first time Liberia saw Olympics sponsorship since 2000. Taken from the first issue of Collabs and Drops, here is the data behind each of these three viral collabs: YEEZY X GAP: In early June, when the first Yeezy x Gap collection item was announced, related searches jumped by 325 percent. Later, when the Black Round Jacket was released for pre-order, searches for the collab increased by another 257 percent. BALENCIAGA X JUSTIN BIEBER: After the announcement that Justin Bieber was featuring in Balenciaga's Fall 21 campaign on July 23, searches for “Justin Bieber Balenciaga” increased by 214 percent. TELFAR X LIBERIA: Searches for the brand grew by 53 percent on Lyst following the Olympic Games opening ceremony, where the Telfar-designed Liberian Olympic kit was first spotted. Collaborations like these that go viral in the APAC region also frequently trend in the US market. For example, one of the most highly-anticipated collabs of 2021, the Fragment x Nike x Travis Scott sneaker drop, garnered most of its hype from Japan (22 percent), the US (9 percent), and the UK (8 percent). Not only does the data behind these much-hyped collabs allow brands and consumers to understand their impact, but it also highlights wider trends, such as the growing and more explicit mergers between popular culture and luxury. The fact that Jing Daily found that the Telfar x Liberia collaboration predominantly received praise from consumers who had shown support for the Black Lives Matter movement shows the motivations behind consumer preferences — as well as the social appeal of certain collaborations. For more analysis on the latest Collabs and Drops, sign up for the newsletter here.

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Unpacking the Impact of 3 Viral Collaborations